NFL, NFLPA Hope To Sign New CBA Soon

We might not be headed towards a labor stoppage after all. Talks between the NFL and the NFLPA are set to pick up this month with an eye towards hammering out a new collective bargaining agreement before the 2019 season gets underway, a source tells ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano.

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The two sides have scheduled negotiating sessions for July 17-19, marking the first time the two parties will engage in talks for three straight days. As it stands, the current CBA expires after the 2020 season, but everyone involved is taking a proactive approach to get something done well in advance.

It’s all rather promising – owners locked out players in 2011, which led to a last-minute agreement and shortened training camps. There’s optimism on both sides of the table, Graziano hears, though nothing is certain.

It would behoove both sides to get something done before March 2020. Without a new deal in place, next offseason will include new contract and salary-cap rules specific to the final year of the CBA, which means no June 1 release designations and the ability of teams to use both the franchise and transition tags to keep players off the free agent market.

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